Chapter 715 Why?
"In the past, the government has invested a lot of public funds in sports every year, but according to a recent survey, the population participating in sports is gradually declining. Although it is not obvious yet, this trend is worthy of our vigilance!"
"We should take effective measures and policies to make more people like sports, participate in sports and feel the fun of sports. This is the purpose of our government's vigorous development of the sports industry!"
"I am very happy to see the emergence of a team like Southampton. This is a magical team. They have a unique charm that is attracting more and more fans to participate in sports. Their outstanding youth training is cultivating more and more future stars for us. That is our hope!"
"I believe that Southampton will become better and better, and achieve better and better results in domestic and European competitions!"
“This new stadium will be a brand new starting point for this glorious history!”
"Thanks!"
Following Maria Miller's speech, there was a burst of warm applause from the audience.
This senior British government official not only used her speech to emphasize the government's emphasis on and investment in sports, but also put forward her own political views and ambitions. It can be seen that she should have proposals in this regard and is now building momentum.
But so what?
This has little to do with Yang Huan and Southampton, right?
“Thank you very much for Ms. Maria Miller’s wonderful speech. Next, we would like to invite our Southampton chairman, Mr. Yang Huan, to come on stage to introduce our new stadium and the next development plan of Southampton Club!”
There was another round of enthusiastic applause at the scene.
It is obvious that although Terry Matthews, Boris Johnson and Maria Miller have received a lot of attention, all the reporters came to the scene with only one purpose, which is to find out how Southampton's new stadium will operate.
Because everyone who came to the scene saw that the guests invited by Southampton this time were all heavyweights.
To paraphrase a popular phrase on the internet, Master Huan is playing a big game of chess.
But what kind of chess is this? It’s time to reveal it!
Yang Huan walked up to the podium in a neat suit and a calm smile. He walked to the microphone and smiled at everyone present, "You can take as many photos as you want this time!"
There was a burst of laughter from the audience, followed by thunderous applause.
Everyone knows that Master Huan doesn't like being photographed and is always avoiding the camera intentionally or unintentionally.
And now, he made a joke about it himself, which naturally made many people present laugh.
After the laughter died down, Yang Huan coughed lightly and started to get to the point.
"As you can see, behind me is our new stadium, which took nearly four years to build and cost more than 500 million pounds. It can accommodate more than 65,000 fans."
"It has 200 executive rooms and 60 premium executive rooms, 300 food and beverage outlets, 1,000 toilets, as well as camera positions, media seats, etc...."
At this point, Yang Huan slightly turned sideways and stretched out his left hand towards the stadium behind him. "I can say that this is the top, most advanced, and most luxurious seven-star football stadium in Europe!"
The other person's level is five-star, but Yang Huan used seven-star this time, obviously trying to outdo the other person.
Is it outrageous?
No, everyone present will be given a booklet about the stadium, which will provide a very detailed introduction to the facilities of Southampton's new stadium and the various high-tech technologies used.
For example, it was the first to use an intelligent parking lot management system, a new multimedia management system, etc., all of which are the most advanced.
Under the stadium, there is a parking lot that can accommodate more than 10,000 parking spaces, which is exclusively for Southampton's season ticket holders. There are three floors above the ground, and fans can enter the stadium via stairs, elevators, etc.
If necessary, the stadium can even be expanded to a maximum capacity of over 100,000.
But for the time being, Southampton will definitely not expand. After all, attendance and home atmosphere are more important than anything else.
Yang Huan then had someone play the trailer on the big screen to show everyone the new stadium.
Looking down at the stadium from a high vantage point, it is designed like a nine-clawed golden dragon. It is very majestic and domineering, but it also looks full of soft lines. It can be said to be a combination of hardness and softness, and it is magnificent.
Not only that, the internal facilities of this stadium are also very complete. Almost all the services and leisure and entertainment facilities that fans need can be found inside or around the stadium.
The entire artificial island, including the double-decker bridge connecting to the mainland, has been carefully designed.
At the pier, the club and the city government plan to jointly build a parking building and open up bus parking.
It is not only to serve all the fans who come to the artificial island, but also the guests at the cruise terminal and yacht marina.
After Yang Huan’s introduction and the showing of the trailer, everyone present couldn’t help but marvel at Southampton’s generosity.
"Here, we are very honored to announce that Southampton Football Club has officially reached a cooperation agreement with Harrods London. In the next ten years, Harrods will become Southampton's only partner in this field!"
"They will build a shopping mall covering an area of 90,000 square meters here, gathering more than 300 mid- to high-end brands from all over the world. This is not only the largest shopping mall in Southampton, but also the largest shopping mall south of London!"
This piece of news was disclosed yesterday, and many people in the industry have known about it for a long time and are not surprised at all.
According to the stadium brochure, the Harrods department store will be located on the upper level of the double-decker bridge.
Because the lower level is a vehicle access, all fans who walk into the artificial island from the Royal Cruise Terminal must pass through Harrods. It can be said that the geographical location is unique.
Of course, given Southampton's usual negotiating ability, the rent paid by Harrods must be quite high.
But considering that Yang Huan’s underwater hotel has recently officially reached a comprehensive cooperation agreement with a number of travel companies from China, it will attract more and more Chinese tourists. Therefore, it is not unreasonable for Harrods to choose to settle in.
It is now known throughout the world that Chinese tourists have incredible spending power, and Harrods is famous for its mid- to high-end and luxury goods, and its target customers are very much in line with Chinese tourists.
Therefore, it is not difficult to see that the two sides must have hit it off.
Furthermore, there were rumors before that after Harrods was acquired by the Qatari consortium, the young owner was Harold, the chairman of Tottenham Hotspur, who was also a member of the Saints Fans Club and had a very good relationship with Yang Huan.
So it’s not surprising that Southampton is collaborating with Harrods.
On the stage, Yang Huan's speech continued.
"We announced all-round cooperation with brands such as Pepsi, KFC, Starbucks, Heineken, Calon, Cadbury and others!"
This is not surprising, because with so many fans entering the stadium, there is a demand for food, drinks, and entertainment.
Moreover, many of the brands announced by Yang Huan were already sponsors of Southampton.
This move into the new stadium can only be regarded as a continuation and expansion of the previous cooperation scope.
It can be seen that the sponsors must have asked for a lot of money.
Of course, the reason these brands sponsor is definitely because they think they can make money.
For example, as Yang Huan just introduced, the new stadium has a total of more than 300 food outlets, most of which are provided to brands such as Pepsi, KFC, and Starbucks.
Just think about it, more than 60,000 people gathered in a stadium for a few hours. How staggering would the consumption be?
There are also restaurants. In addition to the Chinese food, cakes and snacks at Wangjiang Pavilion and the tea at Tingyuxuan, the new stadium has also introduced Western restaurants, Italian restaurants, French restaurants, etc., covering three levels: high, medium and low.
Apart from Wangjiang Pavilion and Tingyuxuan, Southampton collects nearly 20 million pounds in rental fees from these restaurants each year.
The nine independent buildings outside have all been leased. In addition to Yang Huan’s three own businesses, namely Wangjiang Pavilion, Tingyu Pavilion and the official fan store, Apple’s official flagship store, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, KFC and Pizza Hut have also signed contracts early on. The remaining one was leased to Saint Harry, who is preparing to build an official fan bar.
The annual rent of these nine buildings is also a considerable income, which amazed all the reporters present.
If what Yang Huan said is true, Southampton's annual financial revenue will increase by leaps and bounds, and it may even catch up with super giants like Manchester United and Real Madrid.
But just when everyone was surprised, Yang Huan announced another major deal.
"Here, I am very honored to solemnly announce that after long negotiations, we have reached an agreement with Huawei Company from China to sell the naming rights of the stadium to Huawei Company for a sponsorship fee of 250 million pounds for ten years!"
Hearing this, everyone in the audience was stunned.
Two hundred and fifty million pounds over ten years?
Wasn't it twenty-five million pounds that year?
Oh my God, this is an absolutely huge sum of money!
Huawei, this name is not unfamiliar to everyone, because it has sponsored Southampton before, and also sponsored Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan, but those were all small sponsorships, unlike this time, it directly spent a sky-high price!
But Yang Huan quickly gave an explanation.
Through this sponsorship, Huawei will become Southampton's global strategic partner, not only in Europe, but also in Asia, Huawei's base, especially China.
Southampton's influence in China began after Yang Huan took over. Now, it has become the most powerful European giants in the country. Yang Huan also recently launched a plan for Southampton to set up a youth training camp in China.
Therefore, Huawei’s sponsorship of Southampton is not just for the naming of the stadium, but also a complete set of all-round cooperation.
“I am very pleased to invite the president of Huawei Company to unveil our new stadium!”
Following Yang Huan's introduction, the person in charge of Huawei walked onto the stage with a smile, and stood on both sides of a table next to the podium, one on the left and one on the right with Yang Huan. A crystal football was placed in the middle of the table.
Witnessed by everyone at the scene, the two of them placed their hands on the crystal ball at the same time.
Suddenly, the crystal ball burst into a red and white light, and the Southampton team logo could be vaguely seen. On the outer wall of the third floor of the stadium, the red curtain that originally covered the stadium logo slowly fell down, revealing the name of the stadium.
In an instant, the scene was filled with thunderous applause. Countless reporters raised their cameras high and took pictures of the name of the stadium in the air. At the same time, many people were shouting the name of the stadium.
Glory Stadium!
This is a mobile phone brand under Huawei that is being promoted globally. The fact that Huawei is willing to use this name for the stadium shows their ambition for this brand.
After the unveiling, Yang Huan also devoted some time to the head of Huawei, who introduced the specific situation of Huawei's sponsorship of Southampton, as well as Huawei's development strategy in Europe and even the world, and emphasized their cooperation with Southampton.
But for all the football people present, what shocked them even more was Southampton.
The stadium naming fee alone is 25 million pounds a year. Add the rent and the operation of the stadium, and Southampton's annual income from this glorious stadium will be an astonishing figure.
In an instant, everyone had a premonition that Southampton would become the strongest contender for the Premier League championship from now on, because with the new stadium, they would be more confident than any other team.
But why are so many sponsors optimistic about Southampton?
Could it be that this team, which has just returned to the Premier League for two seasons and is not considered a top team at all despite having won the championship as a newly promoted team, has been favored by so many sponsors?
Just when many people were curious, Yang Huan returned to the podium and finally revealed the answer to everyone.
"I think many people should still remember that four years ago, when I just came to the UK and just bought Southampton, I said that I hope that one day, Southampton's tickets can be given away for free to all fans who like and support Southampton!"
Everyone present was filled with wonder when they heard this.
Yes, he did say that back then, but everyone treated it as a joke.
Moreover, Yang Huan never mentioned this in the past four years.
Why are you bringing this up again now?
"Yes, today, I am here and I can proudly tell you that I think the time is ripe!"
In an instant, almost everyone present, except for some guests and partners who already knew the inside story, was stunned.
Is the time ripe?
Are the tickets free?
How is this possible?
Why?